Boy George coming to Regent

EIGHTIES pop legend Boy George is coming to the Ipswich Regent as part of a 17-date comeback UK tour.

The pop singer-songwriter will be appearing at the theatre on October 12 at 7.30pm to perform all the hits and new songs, with a few surprises promised.

The tour, which will take him all over the UK, will tie in with the release of his new album in September this year. Ironically the news has just been released as we prepare to celebrate St George's Day on Monday.

Boy George, whose real name is George Alan O'Dowd, gained fame with his group Culture Club during the 1980s and sold millions of albums worldwide. His life has been a soap opera played out in the tabloids since his meteoric rise to international stardom in 1982.

Recently he hit the headlines after being arrested for possessing cocaine and ordered to do community service at New York City Department of Sanitation. A media frenzy descended on him as he attempted to carry out his street cleaning, forcing to continue his work inside the department's grounds.

George was first spotted in the London club scene by music executive Malcolm McLaren, of Sex Pistols fame.

After performing briefly with the group Bow Wow Wow, he formed his own band The Culture Club in 1982.

The band experienced a number of top 10 hits including Do You Really Want to Hurt Me and Karma Chameleon which became a number one single in numerous countries around the world and stayed at the top position for six weeks in the UK charts.

As a household name, Boy George became the obvious choice for lead vocals on the Band Aid single Do They Know It's Christmas. However things started to go downhill in 1985 when he became addicted to cocaine and later heroin and the group disbanded in 1986.

He attempted a solo career in subsequent years but never achieved the same success. Since then George has explored a range of other interests from writing material for his musical Taboo and photography to writing and fashion. Yet he is still very much in the news, as only recently singer Kylie Minogue asked to work with him for her upcoming album, due to be released later this year.

This tour is expected to be his much awaited comeback.

n. What do you think? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk



-In 1986 he guest starred in an episode of the A-Team, as a character entitled Cowboy George*

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